i.to remind us of our initial love and zeal for the propagation of the gospel,
ii. to intimate us on the need to be careful not to lose that first love and
iii. to discuss the menace of losing the first love.
The believers at Ephesus were people who patiently bore their burdens and toiled without fainting for the sake of Christ. However, they abandoned their first love, which is the total devotion to Christ and the communal love as found in the early Church (Acts 2:44-47; Eph 1:15-20). They were segregating among themselves (Eph 4:1ff; 6:24) to the extent of neglecting the believers’ communal love. Apostle John the Elder warned them of this careless negligence and admonished them to revisit their first commitment to communal fellowship and love, otherwise, the light of the gospel will be taken away from them.
1. From Ephesians 1:15-20 and Rev 2:1-3, 6 analyse the zeal and love of the Ephesian Christians.
2. From your experience, how can you narrate the first love when a believer receives the message of salvation? Narrate in the context of Acts 2:37, 44-47.
3. Critically analyse the actions of Peter in Matt 4:18-20 and in John 21: 3, 15 to discuss the instances of believers losing their first love. How are Christians losing their love for Christ in our generation and what are the consequences? Matt 10:33; Gal 2:11-16.
4. What is the Biblical injunction for Christians if they would maintain their first love for the gospel? 2Tim2:22-26; Tit 3:2.
No matter how zealous we might be for the work of God, we must be very careful so as not to easily shift our focus from the love for the gospel of salvation to carnality that may easily lead to strife, envy, and eventual backsliding from the race we started in Christ.
No matter the zeal, it cannot replace the love of Christ in Christendom.
Rev 2:4 "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love".